§ Handbook
5 min read
A handbook per Lab.
Every Lab in the federation has its own handbook. It is not written; it forms continuously from the Lab's Council decisions and registration work. What stands in the handbook is what the Lab actually does, recorded by consent.
§ What the handbook is
A living document that records the practice of a . Not prescriptions imposed by the federation; not a guide for those who do not yet do the work. It is a trace of decisions: who proposed what, what changed, who consented, who objected, and on what grounds.
§ How it forms
Three apps work together.
chart.syfers.eu
Council decision
A proposal is heard, refined, and adopted by consent. The decision is registered.
lens.syfers.eu
Structure and domain
The decision is classified by domain (kitchen, water, community, etc.) and linked to a chapter.
handbook.syfers.eu
Handbook updated
The chapter is automatically updated with the new rule or way of working. The trace of decisions is preserved.
§ What a handbook contains
Domains where the work lands.
A finds in its first months which domains and topics call for a decision. The handbook builds itself from there, generated from . The domains below are one possible shape; every Lab finds its own.
Possible shape · every Lab finds its own domains and topics
01
Kitchen
Shared cooking, cleaning, and food safety. How the rhythm of the community runs through the kitchen.
02
Water
How water is used and conserved on site. Sources, circulation, and seasons.
03
Energy
Shared systems for generation and use. The solar setup, the batteries, the agreements.
04
Tools
Where tools live, how to use them and return them. The simplest part, tested daily.
05
Land
Food systems, seeds, and irrigation zones. The practice of working syntropically on ground.
06
Animals
Care guidance for animals on site. Who does what, when, and with what attention.
07
Buildings
Shared spaces and maintenance routines. What is common, what is private, and how that shifts.
08
Safety
Emergency and prevention guidance for daily life. What to do, who to call.
09
Community
How shared life and governance rhythms work. Council, rounds, rituals, request and attention.
10
Volunteers
What volunteers need to know from arrival to departure. The rhythm of coming, taking part, and leaving.
Visit the handbook of a Lab.
The handbooks are available through the SYFERS app. Each Lab has its own URL under handbook.syfers.eu. The content is open; the decision-making is traceable.
§ Federation context
The federation does not prescribe handbooks. It facilitates the mechanism by which Labs record their practice by consent, and the infrastructure on which that becomes visible. What a Lab decides remains the Lab's.
Whoever becomes a Lab does not receive a handbook. It forms in the first months of work, from the first decisions Council takes. Read Become a Lab for how that works, or Practice for the discipline from which the handbook arises.